* Friday *

" You look like a frog. Seriously, go use some concealer." Shinwoo bluntly remarks as he shoves down his breakfast.

" I do? My eyes are puffy...that's all..." Ah-ra places her hands on her forehead as she tries to hide her swollen eyes.

Shinwoo changes his attention to Dal-rae who was stiff from sitting beside Ah-ra. The both of them were still cold with each other. 

" Aren't the two of you eating? I woke up early just to cook breakfast. Do I have to start feeding the both of you?" Shinwoo rolls his eyes as he brings his fork to Dal-rae's mouth.

Dal-rae batted her eyelashes at him. Why was he acting so nice? Again, this made her angry. Obviously, her brother was only acting kind to her so that she won't hurt Ah-ra.  Everything revolves around, Ah-ra, Ah-ra and Ah-ra.  She was still clueless that actually her brother's intention were to only cheer her up, however her mind got the better of herself. She was just too used to being pushed Ah-ra by him ever since they were young. 

" Eat? My hands are aching...," Shinwoo persuades Dal-rae to open so that he could feed her.

Shinwoo smiles as he pushes the food in his little sister's mouth, at least he made the effort to try to at least treat her better. That made him feel satisfied. He was finally making some progress in bonding with his half-sister. Not forgetting Ah-ra, Shinwoo turns to face her. Her eyes were puffy from crying, he supposed. She hadn't cried that hard when Jinyoung left her, she must have felt bad for her sister.

" Your turn, say ah~." Shinwoo also coaxes Ah-ra with food.

" It's alright. Oppa, eat well. I'm going to school now. Onni, I-I'm sorry." Ah-ra leaves the dining table and carefully pushes in her chair. She wasn't in the mood.

" You're not eating? Yah! At least drink some water..." Shinwoo stands up and chases after her to the door.

" I'm not eating. I'll eat later. Baro is already waiting for me." Ah-ra starts to wear her shoes as she ignores her brother's good will to make her eat.

" You're going to fall sick if you don't eat! Baro can wait!" Shinwoo who could no longer stand his little sister's cold reaction finally snaps.

" Why are you yelling at me?! I don't want to eat! I said I don't want to! Do I even look like I have the appetite to eat?!" Ah-ra forcefully tilts her head to the side as she stared into her brother's eyes. 

" I-I didn't mean to...raise my voice at you..." as Shinwoo utters those words, it was too late, his little sister slams the door right infront of his face.

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Baro leans on the side of the car as he patiently waits for Ah-ra. He rubbed both of his hands together and started to blow some hot air into them, since the weather was a bit chilly. 

" Wah...the weather is so fine today...hopefully this signals for a good day ahead. Haha..." Baro utters those words cheerfully as he raises his head to admire the crystal-blue sky.

All of a sudden, he hears the loud slamming of the door. He immediately clears his throat and runs towards Ah-ra who was stomping out of the house. 

" Why is she so mad?" Baro scratches his head as he now runs to her side.

Ah-ra ignores him and heads straight to the car. 

" Oh? Ahgasshi...aren't we taking the bus? I thought-" Baro hesitates to continue as he watches over her droppy shoulders. 

She didn't answer him, instead the cold wind greeted the both of them. He could see her hair skirt through the wind, she didn't move. With careful steps, he approaches her and summons the courage to face her. She was now standing infront of the car waiting for him to open the door.

" You must be tired...here let me open the door for you...Oh?! Why are you crying? Why? Why? Are you alright? Are you in pain?" Baro who was sluggishly opening the door gets the shock of his life as Ah-ra starts to tear up.

" I'm not crying! It's because of the...the stupid wind! I'm not crying because I'm sad...I'm crying because of the wind...Sorry..." Ah-ra wipes the tears away from her eyes and immediately apologises to Baro.

She inwardly felt sorry to her Shinwoo, she didn't mean to shout at him. Hence, she was tearing up from guilt.

" Eh~ Liar. Anyone will be able to tell that you cried last night..." Baro pouts as he points at her two swollen eyes.

" Is it really that bad? Should I go get a concealer?" Ah-ra rubs her eyes as she utters those words.

" Nope. You don't have to. I have a faster method." Baro winks at her as he speaks.

* 10 minutes later *

" Your face is like a heater. Seriously!" Baro chuckles as he continues to press Ah-ra's eyes with his frozen fingers.

" Your hands are really cold...How long must we stand here? Let's go now...my legs are aching." Ah-ra reaches for Baro's hands, she couldn't see a thing as he was covering her eyes with his cold fingers to reduce the puffiness.

" Done, and now for some last touches..." Baro removes his hands from her eyes and proceeds to blow some cold wind into her eyes for her.

As Ah-ra was slowly opening her eyes, she could see him creeping towards her with his eyes closed. His adorable lips were closing in to her for some reason. Thinking that he was about to kiss her, her hands quickly reaches for his soft cheeks.

* Slaps *

" What was that for?!" Baro shouts as he holds on to his stinging cheeks.

" I knew it... you're a ert after all..." Ah-ra folds her arms and without hesitating enters the car.

" Yah. Even in a million years...I wouldn't even think of such things... kissing you? Tsk." Baro smirks as he too prepares himself to start the car.

Baro who was now driving, peeks by the driver's mirror to observe Ah-ra. She was sitting quietly and puffing her cheeks. Out of the blue, she changes her attention to him, and catches him staring at her.

" What are you looking at?" Ah-ra gazes into the mirror as she scolds him.

" I wasn't looking at you. I was watching the black car at the back." Baro awkwardly replies her as he now concentrates on the road.

* 20 minutes later *

Baro energetically unfastened his seat belt and proceeded to open the car door for Ah-ra. With a polite bow, he sends her off to class. He didn't want to bug her, so today he didn't followed her around like a gum to her class. He waves her a goodbye and smiles as widely as he could.

" Why is he always smiling... haha...at least he made me feel better..." Ah-ra grins as she tucks in her hair behind her ears and proceeds to her class.

" Oppa! That's the girl... you should teach her a lesson for always bugging Jinyoung." Eun-bi rolls her eyes as she sees Ah-ra walk pass her.

" That girl? Oh...she's pretty." Eun-bi's boyfriend comment made her even more furious.

" Su-jung ah... call them up. When she passes the music faculty. Tell them to grab her. Oppa, your friends are already waiting for her right? Hmmph, this is what you get when you mess around with Dal-rae's friends." Eun-bi changes her attention to Su-jung and seeks the help of her boyfriend's friends to help with her plan.

Ah-ra walks down the corridor which she was now familiar with. The corner to get to the music faculty was the place she most dreaded, most of the seniors would be there to ogle on pretty girls and do whatever they can do to grab their attention. For a moment, she wished Sandeul was there with her so that she would feel safe.

* Phone vibrating *

Sandeul: Yah! Shin Ah-ra! You're only picking up now? 

Ah-ra: I'm sorry... 

Sandeul: Where are you? Channie and me are waiting for you outside class.

* Ah-ra talking on the phone with Sandeul *

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" Yah...aren't you guys going to class? Hanging around here still?" Jinyoung smirks as he lightly punches a friend of his who was from the dance faculty.

" You should stay and watch, we're going to teach someone a lesson..." one of the guys laughs as he styles his hair.

" Teach someone a lesson? Who?" Jinyoung bit his lips as he thought of the poor prey for the day.

Jinyoung leans against one of the pillars to wait for Ah-ra to come. He was worried about her, especially after hearing her sob. The last time he remembered her crying was during the time he left her. While thinking of her, he motion himself and fishes out his ipod. Plugging both of his ears with an ear piece. 

" Grab her!" a random senior lunges towards Ah-ra and covers her eyes.

A total of four of them dragged her behind the pillar where Jinyoung was standing. They snatched away her books and threw it in a corner. One of them even proceeded to her rosy cheeks. Unfortunately, that didn't catch his attention as the loud music played in his ears. 

" Let me go!" Ah-ra screams as she kicks one of the guy in the knee.

" She's strong! Yah...kid. I heard you've been flirting around with our hyung... tsk... you should probably pick a better person." the guy spits at the corner as he pushes Ah-ra against the pillar.

Ah-ra's face turned pale. Who was the hyung? 

" Hyung! Come here! It's this girl!" one of the four guys went to grab Jinyoung from behind the pillar.

" Yah! What are you doing? I'm waiting for someo-" Jinyoung stops as he eyes Ah-ra who was now looking at him.

Ah-ra immediately misunderstood the situation, thinking that it was Jinyoung who set her up. She forcefully pushes her way through and didn't waste time to pick up her books. Her cheeks were getting red by the minute, tears were starting to fill up her eyes again. How much worst could the day offer her? Ah-ra embarrassingly stands up and walks away from the scene, leaving the stumped Jinyoung.

" Ah-ra! Ah-ra!" Jinyoung panics as he stashes away his ipod in his bag.

Ah-ra stops in her tracks as she angrily bit her lips. It was as if the universe was against her today. Giving her problems, from her home to her school. From family to even close friends. What next? Breaking up with Sandeul? Fighting with Gongchan? Screwing up school? While thinking of all those thoughts, she stood still.

" Ah-ra! It's not what you think it is!" Jinyoung grabs her by the shoulders and tries to explain.

" Don't touch me with your filthy hands! I trusted you..." Ah-ra pushes him away and runs away to class. 

" Aish!" Jinyoung pulls his hair in frustration and turns his back to face his 'friends'.

" All of you are dead meat." with those thoughts in his head, Jinyoung approaches them with a raging heart.

Ah-ra hugs her books as she runs to class. She didn't care anymore, all she felt like doing was to cry her heart out. She hated the stupid feeling of wanting to cry and where a lump starts to form in the throat. Like the wind, she passes by Gongchan and Sandeul and heads straight into class.

" Yah! Ah-ra!" Gongchan reaches out for her as he stood still for a moment.

" Jagiya!" Sandeul chases after her into class after seeing her red face. 

Both of them runs into class, she was already in her original seat. With both of her hands, she covered her head with the hoodie of her jacket. The both of them slowly hovered around her to check up on her. Gongchan on the left and Sandeul on the right.

" Are you alright? Did something happen?" Gongchan shakes her as he tries to make her open up.

Sandeul silently takes his seat and pats Ah-ra softly on the head. Trying to comfort her.

" Yah, she's not a puppy. Ask her...what's wrong...I'm worried." Gongchan signs to Sandeul with his mouth and hands.

" Ok. Ok. Sit down. Give her some space to breathe." Sandeul mouths those words at Gongchan as he frowns.

Sandeul got into the same position as Ah-ra. His head on the table. He was now facing her, unknowingly he was wearing a sweet smile on his face as he stared at her. Without saying a word, he taps her on the shoulder. Ah-ra took a deep breath and gradually turns to face Sandeul, her head still on the table. For a moment, the both of them were gazing into each other's eyes. 

" She's beautiful." that was the first thing that popped out of Sandeul's brains. 

His hands slowly reaches out for her hair that was covering her left eye. With a warm smile, he excitedly sits back up and scrambles for his bag. He was searching for something. He was sure that he didn't take it out of his bag yesterday after buying it with Gongchan after dinner.

" Oh...where is it..." Sandeul tilts his head to the side as he continued to search for it.

Gongchan giggles as he watches the clumsy Sandeul trying to find something in his bag. Must have been the clip that the both of them saw yesterday.

" Here it is..." Sandeul curls his lips and swiftly clips it on Ah-ra's hair.

Again, he got into the same position as Ah-ra. Staring into her sorrowful brown eyes. He didn't want to upset her, so he continued to stare at her with his crystal clear eyes. He knew that if he stared long enough, she was going to laugh at his cute face.

" I'm hungry...Eung..." Sandeul mouths those words at her as he blinks repeatedly.

" Fools... Ah-ra... you look pretty today. That clip looks gorgeous on you! Where did you get it?" Gongchan tries to brighten up the mood and presses her shoulders as he excitedly speaks.

" Sorry... I was tired that's all... Gongchan-ah, thank you." Ah-ra totally understood that Gongchan was trying to lift the mood up.

" You're my friend, you don't have to thank me...Oh? Jinyoung sunbaenim is still not here yet?" Gongchan shakes his head as he realizes that Jinyoung wasn't present.

* Start of class *

Jinyoung wasn't present for the first-half of the class. That didn't bother Ah-ra much because she really hated him. Little did she know that he skipped the class for her sake. To teach the boys a lesson too. 

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* Break time *

" Ah-ra, you're not eating?" Gongchan looks at her as he wraps his arms around Sandeul's shoulders.

" Nope...I'm not hungry. I want to continue composing songs first." Ah-ra blankly replies them as she continued to face the wide screen.

" I'll get you a sandwich and a bottle of orange juice." Sandeul pats Gongchan on the shoulder.

" Haha...thank you..." Ah-ra blushes as she hears those words coming out from his mouth.

" Cheesy... what next? Feeding her? Let's go..." Gongchan heads out of the classroom first.

" I'll be back soon!" Sandeul assures her and didn't waste time to join Gongchan.

Ah-ra gave her best smile and watched the both of them till they were out of sight. She was alone in class. She couldn't get the incident that happened yesterday out of her head. Why was Dal-rae so uptight all of a sudden? As Ah-ra thought about that, her hands naturally went up to her neck which was feeling sore after yesterday.

" The necklace!" Ah-ra forcefully hits the table as she finally was aware that she wasn't wearing the necklace that Sandeul had given her.

" What should I do...did I lose it just now? No...no...that can't be. Maybe...maybe it's in the bathroom..." Ah-ra tries to assure herself that she didn't lose the necklace.

Jinyoung enters the classroom and sees that no one else was in the lecture room. His eyes gradually looked at her, she was alone. The look on her face was as if she had lost something. With a heavy-heart, Jinyoung slowly climbs up the small steps and sits down at his usual seat which was infront of Ah-ra. Ah-ra upon seeing this, rolled her eyes at his head.

He bit his lips as he clutches the milk carton in his hands. The bruise on his lips and nose were stinging badly. However, he knew he had to do it.  While turning his body slightly, Jinyoung stands up and places the milk carton on Ah-ra's desk. Without saying a word, he left the lecture room for some fresh air.

Ah-ra blankly stares at the milk carton, she saw the injuries on Jinyoung's face. Her eyes widened on the thoughts of him getting into a fight. No wonder, he wasn't in class for the half-period. She steadfastly grabs the milk carton and stands up. She heard the sound of paper crumple in her hands. She turned the milk carton around and saw a sticky note with neat scribbles on it.

It read: 

I will never ever make you cry again. I'm sorry. Forgive me? 

* Removes the first piece of sticky note to reveal the second one *

It read:

Smile. Only think of good thoughts and everything else will be alright. Whatever it is, smile. 

Ah-ra plops back down to her seat as she realizes that Jinyoung had beaten the guys up for her. 

" You idiot...why are you apologising..." Ah-ra smiles to herself as she utters those words.

Before she could even leave the lecture room, Gongchan and Sandeul were already back with food in their hands. The both of them didn't stop chatting, Ah-ra could only laugh at the thought of Jinyoung's sweet actions. Although she felt bad about misunderstanding him and calling him 'filthy', he didn't hold it against her.

It was only the first half of the day, but she was already looking forward to the first day of spring. One more week... and her favourite season was going to come and greet her. The thought of it made her happy.

Sandeul on the other hand, was staring at her all the time. He couldn't help but laugh at Gongchan's jokes and at the same time admire Ah-ra's brown eyes. It really resembled his mother's eyes a lot. He also looked forward to the upcoming days where he could spend more time for Ah-ra. For now, he knew he had to focus on his studies first...

Like any other normal day, time went by...and yet another chapter in their lives were going to start by the next season.

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( A/N: I will try my best to update by Sunday for the next chapter... haha. Staring at the screen in disbelief. 25th chapter?! I thought I was going to end this story at the 25th chapter...but maybe not. Still a long way to go~~~)